Inside Centenary United Methodist Church are the essential ingredients for second chances.

None of the workers with the Laughing Bear Bakery have been on the job more than a few months but they are cooking up some delicious treats.

"We have everything from scratch," said head baker Kalen McAllister. "I mean, we do our key lime and we squeeze the limes."

To work here, baking experience is not required. The only thing you will need on your resume is a criminal record.

"We interview them and we see potential," said McAllister.

McAllister, who is also the founder, is an ordained Buddhist priest and a former chaplain with Missouri Department Corrections. After retiring, she started the bakery to provide a starting point for recently released ex-offenders.

"A job like this giving them some freedom and responsibility, not to mention some income helps re-establish them with the community emotionally. They become people again instead of numbers," explains Mike Gann who was with the Missouri Department of Corrections for 24 years.